Thoughts from Sparton CEO may make you think

Many people shared my reaction when Sparton Corp. hired a "turnaround expert" to lead the company in November.

"Oh-oh," we said.

Turnaround experts are scary. They usually make decisions that put people out of work.

Cary Wood, the guy hired to be CEO of Sparton, lived up to that reputation.

Two weeks ago, he announced the company will cease operations in Jackson, a loss of 206 jobs.

This factory closing would be a bitter blow on sentimental grounds alone.

Sparton did a heck of a lot to pull Jackson through the Great Depression. Then called Sparks-Withington, it was the city's top employer in the 1930s.

During World War II, Sparton's five plants around Jackson produced war material used in trucks, tanks, Jeeps and planes.

An Army major general visited Jackson to give all five plants an award for helping the nation win the war.

Best of all, the man who built the company, Captain William Sparks, was probably Jackson's greatest industrial philanthropist.

Sparks constructed an audacious monument to big dreams during the Depression: the famous illuminated Cascades. The Cascades and surrounding park were his gift to the people of Jackson.

It would be easy to resent a turnaround expert for shutting down a factory with such rich history.

Except it is difficult to resent Wood after hearing something he said while announcing the closing.

"I have a value and a view and that the company has to assume its own responsibility and accountability for its performance," he said. "I don't expect anyone to subsidize our losses.

"There's a handful of approaches this company can take to fix these things. Unfortunately, there's probably not enough (government) aid. Nor would I, frankly, feel comfortable accepting it to the extent we would need it to keep a facility like this open."

Politicians are still looking for a way to save Sparton. That's what politicians do these days. But I wonder if the old lion of industry, William Sparks, would want his company saved that way.

Sparks has descendants who are still good citizens of Jackson. They have a right to speculate about what he might do if he led Sparton today. I cannot presume to do it.

Maybe Sparks would figure a way to keep a factory in Jackson by cutting jobs elsewhere. Maybe he would agree Jackson operations must be shut down.

Either way, I feel confident of one thing.

Great industrialists from Sparks' era would be shocked anyone needs to say a corporation is responsible for its own performance.

They would think it strange and wrong for unprofitable companies to seek government bailouts.

The old lion and the new turnaround expert would probably agree on that much from opposite ends of the Sparton era.